The Unexpected
by Bella79
Summary: Neela finally decides to go with Ray to one of his pal's parties. A situation that seems harmless at first but carries repercussions for them to deal with later. Chapter 6, posted at LONG last with more to come! Thanks for all the reviews !
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

"Neela, Are you ready yet?"

"Give me another minute, Ray; I'm looking for my boots."

Neela turned back from her bedroom door and resumed scouring her closet for her favorite black boots. _Why on earth did I agree to go with him to this party?_ She thought to herself for the tenth time that evening, getting on her knees she took a quick look under her bed. _There they are. _Neela reached under the bed to retrieve the shiny leather boots.

Quickly putting them on, Neela began to wonder whether she should just tell Ray to just go without her. How much fun was she really expecting to have at a party surrounded by Ray's rocker pals? _You promised him, you'd come this time, Neela. _The little voice in the back of her mind reminded her. Sighing she got up and mentally ran through all the excuses she had given him in the past. Work, too tired, work, washing her hair, work, the Apprentice…..

Resigning herself to the fact that she would just have to suck it up, Neela quickly reapplied her lip gloss and headed out of her bedroom.

"Finally," Ray groaned as he heard his roomie walk out into the living room.

"Honestly, what is it with women and taking five hours to –" He stopped abruptly, taking in Neela's off the shoulder form fitting blue top and dark denim jeans. Her hair had been left in dark waves that fell across her shoulders, eyes lined with black liner and dark eye shadow, making them look large and smoky.

_Whoa._ Ray's mind went blank momentarily, shaking his head. "Looking good Neela, I'm going to have to beat the ambush of guys back with a stick." he smirked.

"Ha Ha, Ray, very funny, ready to go now?" Neela replied trying not to smile at Ray's compliment. She took this opportunity to give him a quick once over, _only Ray could make a sleeveless navy tee and worn jeans look sexy. _Neela mentally kicked herself, _stop it, this is Ray you're thinking about._

"Sure thing, _Dr Neela_, I know a couple of guys who were practically begging me to bring you tonight," Ray teased as he opened the door and ushered his roommate out.

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"Hey, Ray over here!"

Having just stepped through the doors of the house jam packed with people, Ray turned and saw Bret heading towards him and Neela.

"You made it, dude, I was beginning to think you guys weren't coming," Bret called out over the blast of music coming from the stereo in the corner. "Hey, Dr Neela, glad you could make it," He added giving her a big grin.

"Yeah, we almost didn't thanks to Neela, here, who decided we couldn't leave without her damn boots!" Ray responded, earning a well deserved jab in the ribs from Neela.

"Ray!" Neela glared at him, threateningly. "You know, I could just go home now."

"No way, you're not going anywhere Neela," Bret cut in. "You guys only just got here and I have a couple of ice cold beers here with your names on them. Just ignore Barnett; we all manage to do it pretty well." He winked at her, handing her a beer.

"Thanks," Neela responded accepting the beer, figuring if she steered clear of Ray for rest of the evening she may actually have a shot at having some fun. "See ya, Ray; I'm just going to go…mingle," She finished, taking a sip of her beer and heading off into the crowd.

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Watching her push her way through the throng of people, Ray took a sip of his own beer and turned to Bret, "I'm beginning to think this may have actually been a _bad idea._"

"Why do you say that, man, she is just here to have some fun, no harm there," Bret stated steering Ray towards the back porch. "Incidentally, she is looking amazing tonight, blue is very good color on her."

"No reason, just a feeling I guess." Ray responded choosing to ignore his friend's observations about his roommate.

"Well you stay here and do your thing; I think I see Erica over there, trying to catch your eye." Bret gestured to the petite blonde, making her way towards them. "Me…..I think I'm going to go see a _doctor _about a cough I've had, damn thing just won't go away." He started pounding his chest lightly faking a cough. "Have fun." He slapped Ray on the back and headed back inside to find Neela.

"Right," Ray frowned into his beer and watched as Erica strolled up to him with a definitive "I want you" look in her eyes. Trying not to think about what Neela and Bret might up to, Ray gave her a smile. "Just the lady I was looking for."


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Throwing her second beer bottle into the trash, Neela smiled to herself, feeling the effects of her buzz hit her full force. _Yeah, this is exactly what I needed. A chance to let my hair down and flirt with a couple of cute blokes._

Neela turned around and decided to seek out her roomie and give him proper thanks for bringing her tonight. Walking through the house, Neela kept an eye out for Ray, but was suddenly pulled to the side. "Hey Neela, let's dance." She heard a low whisper in her ear. Thinking it was Ray she turned and grinned, only to find herself face to face with…Nick.

"Hey there Nick, we did just dance, ten minutes ago," Neela responded casually.

"Right, let's go out to the porch then and get some air," Nick said grabbing her hand and leading her out the sliding doors. Uncertain as to whether she wanted to 'get some air' but still keen on finding Ray, Neela allowed Nick to escort her outside.

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"Aaah, much better," Nick stated taking a deep breath and moving closer to Neela, who was leaning against the railing. "Having a good time?" He asked her, playing with her hair.

"Yeah, surprisingly I am," Neela replied smiling at him. "It's been a long time since I've had a chance to relax and not think about work, too long."

"That's good, nothing like a party, a few brews and a little company to get the mind off…of things," He finished slowly, moving closer still, lightly trailing is finger along her jaw. Recognizing the look in his eyes but unsure if this is what she wanted to do, Neela turned her face slightly away and allowed Nick to place soft kisses on her neck. Trying to enjoy the feel of Nick's lips on her skin, Neela couldn't help but sense that something was off about this situation.

She turned her gaze to look over Nick's shoulder and her eyes fell upon a blonde chick with a tight fitted short dress, in the midst of a lip lock with a guy whose face she couldn't quite see. The couple turned slightly and Neela could now see the blonde's hands firmly grasping the guy's ass. The guy in his navy tee, jeans and tattoos was looking a lot like her roommate. Wait…..that _was_ her roommate!_ Oh my god, Ray!_

Shocked Neela, lightly pushed Nick away. "Hey, Neela you ok?" Nick whispered to her, looking at the appalled expression on her face.

Nodding her head slightly, Neela took a deep breath, trying to control her thoughts. _Ray kissing that blonde! The blonde with her tight dress and hands all over his….I need to get out of here, now!_

Turning to Nick, she urgently requested. "Can you take me home, Nick? I'm not feeling too good." Which most definitely wasn't a lie, considering her stomach was in knots and she fought to control the wave of dizziness that had just hit her. Grabbing a hold of his arm, Neela followed Nick back into the house and out the front door.

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_15 minutes earlier_

Ray downed the rest of his beer, with the hope that if he was drunk enough, he could get his mind off of Neela and the guys that were probably following her around. _Think Barnett, this is your roommate, good ol' Neela, prim and proper. Looking hot in that shirt, she really should let her down more often……bad move Ray. Really bad._

"Here Ray, I got you another beer." Erica sauntered over to him, kissing him soundly on the lips.

Breaking off the kiss to take a sip of the beer and keep Erica from getting too friendly. Ray smiled at her and tried for the 7th time that evening to start a more meaningful conversation with her. "How's beauty school been treating you?"

"It's okay, not what I thought it was going to be," Erica mused, more interested in running her hands up and down his arms and pulling him close. "I was thinking of maybe quitting and hanging around with you guys at your gigs, you know help out," she continued coyly. "I could be like your assistant."

Trying to ignore that alarm bells going off in his head, Ray gave her small smile, "Now Erica, quitting would probably be bad idea, you wouldn't have much fun with us."

Pouting slightly, Erica looked up at him with a clear invitation in her eyes. Ray recognized the look all too well, considering she had been hinting to him all evening. He cleared his throat and took another sip of his beer as he gazed around the porch.

Ray noticed Nick walk out with Neela trailing behind him. Uncomfortable by their closeness and the smile playing on Neela's lips as she talked to Nick, Ray turned back to Erica.

Erica took this opportunity to lean towards him, running her hands down the front of his shirt, down his sides. _Whoa. _Ray hesitated switching his gaze back to where Neela and Nick were standing close and watched as Nick ran his finger along Neela's face.

Realizing that what he was about to witness wasn't something he wanted to remember later, Ray seized the opportunity Erica had presented him with and kissed her. Reaching over to pull her face close to his, all the while feeling her hands reach down and firmly grab his ass. Beyond caring at this point, Ray continued kissing her until they were both out of breath.

"Hold on," He gasped trying to catch his breath. He looked up and noticed that Neela and Nick were no longer standing near the railing of the porch. In fact they weren't anywhere outside. Trying to calm the panic he was feeling on the inside at the thought of where Neela could have gone with Nick. Ray brushed past Erica, "Be right back."

He headed indoors, asking some of his pals if they had seen Nick or Neela come through. Most of them just shook their heads and suggested he look upstairs. Groaning, he quickly walked through the living room and was about to go up the stairs when he bumped into Jason, the drummer of his band. "Hey Jay, have you seen Nick or Neela around?"

"Sure, man, I saw your roomie leave here about five minutes ago with Nick." Jason replied giving him a grin. "I think she wanted to end this night on a happy note. I suggest you do the same, Erica is quite the hottie."

Annoyed that Neela had left with Nick and not even spoken to him, Ray cursed. "Damn it!"

"What's up, Ray," his friend asked looking confused. "Nothing, Jason, nothing I'm going to head out now, I have an early start tomorrow at the hospital." Ray lied, feeling tired.

Ray walked out of the house and over to his van, forgetting about Erica and just wanting to get away. Knowing that going home wasn't an option, Ray headed to the closest bar instead.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Neela sat up in bed the following morning, glaring at the sunlight peeking through the window. Leaning back against the headboard with her head pounding, she thought of the events from the previous night. Neela admitted to herself that overall, she had good time. It had been nice to just let go for a night and not think about GSWs, fractured bones and herniated discs.

_Sure, it had been great until I saw Ray kissing that chick! _Neela closed her eyes and sighed; even in her sober state, she was mad and wasn't quite sure how to deal with it.

Nick had been pretty good about it all, Neela realized; bringing her home after asking multiple times if she wanted to go to the hospital and see a doctor. Neela smiled, remembering how she'd reassured him that all was well and all she needed to do was sleep it off and drink tons of water.

Dropping her off at the door, Nick had also offered to stay with her through the night to make sure she was okay. She'd politely refused of course, but still hadn't been sure if she wanted to be alone in the apartment and face Ray the next day.

Well the 'next day' had arrived and Neela still didn't want to face him. Wishing for once that she actually had a shift today, Neela slowly got up and decided the only way to start feeling more like a human being and less like a zombie was to take a quick shower.

Grabbing her towel, Neela opened her bedroom door and walked cautiously into the living room, wondering if Ray had actually made it to his bedroom or just passed out on the couch like he often did after a late night. Glancing around the empty living room, she sighed in relief and made her way to the bathroom.

Stopping abruptly, she noticed Ray's bedroom door wide open and changed directions, heading for his room. Just as she suspected, it was empty and the bed hadn't looked like it had been slept in.

_He didn't even come home last night! Probably went home with that blonde tart! _Neela seethed, angry that he hadn't come home and angrier still that she was this bothered by it. Turning around Neela stomped to the bathroom and slammed the door.

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Fumbling with his keys, Ray opened the door to the apartment and staggered in. _What a night!_ His decision to go to the bar and get wasted didn't quite work out as planned.

Sure, he'd ended up spending the rest of his night at the bar, only to pass out after one drink …..right there at the table he was occupying. Being rudely awakened and subsequently thrown out wasn't _quite_ the way Ray had wanted to start off his morning.

Walking wearily over to the bathroom, Ray was surprised to see that it was locked. Then he heard the rush of water and realized that Neela was probably in the shower.

_Please let her be in there alone! _The last thing he needed now was seeing Nick and Neela coming out of the bathroom together.

Glancing around the living room, he noted that he didn't see Nick's jacket, and he didn't remember seeing his car in front of the apartment, either. Nick's car wasn't one a person could easily overlook, being that it was a beat up orange vintage Camaro.

Taking some relief in that fact, Ray sat down on the sofa and waited for Neela to get out of the bathroom. He was exhausted and definitely wanted to get a couple more hours of sleep in, but first he wanted to check that she was okay.

Leaning back, Ray closed his eyes, and tried to relax, no sooner had he taken his first deep breath than he heard knocking at the front door. Looking at his watch, Ray wondered who would be knocking at their door this early in the morning. Getting up, he opened the door, only to find a very confused older Indian couple looking back at him.

Trying to gather his thoughts, Ray greeted them, "Hi, can I help you?"

They looked at one another and the man looked down at a piece of paper in his hands. He read it over and then looked up at Ray. "I apologize for disturbing you this early but we were looking for apartment B125, our daughter lives there."

_B125….that's……daughter? Neela! These are Neela's parents! _Ray blinked a couple of times letting this new bit of info sink in. "Oh, you're looking for Neela, yeah she lives here." Ray replied stepping back and gesturing to them to come in.

"Hi, I'm Ray, I work with Neela at the hospital. " Ray said smiling at them, thinking his name would sound familiar to them; Neela probably mentioned him to them.

They just stared back at him in bewilderment. _Clearly she didn't, h_e mused, feeling slightly disappointed.

Clearing his throat, Ray tried to make small talk, while waiting for his roommate to come out of the bathroom. "So you're visiting here from India?"

"England," her mother responded, giving him a look remarkably similar to the ones that Neela had given him on more than one occasion.

"Oh, right." _Now I know where Neela gets it from._

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Neela turned off the shower and grabbed her large, fluffy pink towel as she stepped out of the tub. _Much better_.

Feeling content, she got ready to leave the bathroom, when she suddenly heard voices coming from outside the bathroom. Listening closely, she made out one of the voices as Ray's, couldn't quite place the others.

_He'd better not have brought that tart home with him!_

Debating on what to do - because she didn't want to be caught in front of Ray and his guests in just her towel - Neela opened the door slightly. Ray had his back to her, talking to two people she couldn't quite see.

Taking a deep breath, Neela decided to just make a run for it; if she was lucky all they would see was a pink blur.

Neela opened the bathroom door and ran. She'd almost made it to her room when she heard of very familiar, distinct voice yell out.

"Neela!"

She turned around in shock, looking back at her parents and Ray, who were all watching her in varying degrees of surprise.

"Mum! Dad!"


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

"_Mum! Dad!"_

Ray gaped at Neela. A_ towel! Neela's wearing only a towel! And didn't know her folks were coming by, _he added, judging from her dumbstruck expression.

Remembering to close his mouth, Ray quickly checked that he wasn't drooling and casually greeted her. "Morning, Neela, look who's come by for a visit."

Hearing Ray's voice, Neela's head snapped, as if coming out of a trance. _This can't be happening!_ _Not now_…..She panicked.

It had been six months since Neela had moved out of Abby's apartment and started sharing an apartment with Ray. She had mentioned the move to her parents and even given them the address - conveniently leaving Ray out, referring to him only as her roommate. She'd figured that if they ever came for a visit, they'd tell her in advance and she'd be prepared.

She'd never anticipated that they would just show up out of the blue at her doorstep. _With Ray opening the door no less, looking as if he has spent the night on a park bench! _

_This is bad._

Taking a deep breath, she belatedly realized that she was still standing there in her towel, dripping from her shower. She gave her parents an embarrassed look. "Ill be right back, just need to get dressed. Please, sit down," Neela pointed to the sofa and walked back to her bedroom trying to calm herself.

Ray turned to Neela's parents, now seated. "You must be tired, is there anything I can offer you, coffee, tea, juice………" He trailed off as Neela's father eyed him warily.

"Ray…is it?" He inquired mildly. "If I may ask, is there any particular reason you're here?"

Confused by his question, Ray looked back at him and debated on what to say. _Did Neela even mention to them that she had a roommate? _Deciding that honesty was probably the best route in this case Ray replied, "I live here, I'm Neela's roommate."

Neela walked out just in time to hear Ray's response. "Ray!" She looked at him angrily. "Aren't you feeling tired after the long _night_ you had? Maybe you should go to bed or leave."

Surprised by Neela's anger, but not wanting to get into it in front of her parents, Ray put up his hands in defense. "Ok, Neela, I'm going to bed." He looked back at her parents as he walked to his room. "And don't worry about waking me, I sleep like the dead."

"We won't," Neela responded icily, before turning to her parents. "What are you doing here?" She asked, looking anxiously at them.

"We wanted to see our daughter," Neela's mother responded narrowing her eyes at Neela.

Closing her eyes, Neela realized it was going to be a long morning. "I'm glad to see you both. Really. But why didn't you tell me that you were coming?"

"Why, Neela? So you could conveniently hide from us the fact that you've been living alone, for the past six months, with a man?" Neela's father responded in a controlled but angry voice.

"It's not like that, Dad, he is a colleague of mine, we work at the hospital. He needed a roommate, right around the time that I was looking to move out of Abby's. I was having a hard time finding a place, and the timing just worked out." Neela finished, looking at them wearily.

"Neela, we raised you better than this," Neela's mother began. "You're a single girl living alone with an unwed man!"

"It's not like that, Mum, really. Ray and I don't even see each other on most occasions, we usually work opposite shifts," Neela responded trying to defend herself.

"If that is the case then why is he here right now?" Her father asked, looking at her suspiciously. "If you work opposite shifts shouldn't he be working right now?"

_Oh god. This situation is just getting worse, _Neela thought frantically to herself. "We both just happen to have off today. It doesn't happen very often."

"Never mind the fact that we are actually supposed to believe that the tattoo-clad man with blood shot eyes we met earlier is actually a doctor!" He continued as if ignoring her last comment.

"He is actually a _good_ doctor, Dad." Neela replied invariably defending her roommate. "He has this way with children, makes them feel at ease and I can rely on him when handling complicated trauma procedures and…."

Neela trailed off struggling with the contradictory emotions she had been feeling all morning wage a war within her.

She put her fingers to head and massaged her temples. The headache that had disappeared following her shower earlier had now returned ten-fold. "I'm sorry that this is upsetting you both, but it isn't what you think. We don't have a relationship outside of work, we are _just _colleagues," she said firmly.

"We cannot accept that, Neela," her mother said, looking at her. "You _know_ that we cannot. You are going to have to find some place else to live. That's it."

"What!" Neela exclaimed, glaring at them. "You want me to move out when I've already explained to you that there is _nothing_ going on between us; he's just someone I work with!"

"This is serious, Neela, what do you want us to do? You have to understand where we are coming from on this; you have been raised differently," her father tried reasoning with her.

Neela thought about her options. She didn't want to move out; she liked living here. She shouldn't have to move out because of Ray! Thinking hard, Neela looked up at them as an idea formed in her mind.

"What if I told you something about him, something I'm pretty sure would throw a wrench into your preconceived notions about men and women, and whether they should live together?"

Looking back at her with skeptical expressions, her parents remained silent and waited for her to continue.

"He's gay," she stated, feeling both pleased and mildly uncomfortable.

"Gay?" Both her parents responded looking at each other and then back at Neela.

"Yes, gay…as in he likes other blokes," she continued.

They were quiet for awhile taking in this latest bit of news. Neela's mother broke the silence first, looking at her father as she spoke. "Well, he _was_ wearing nail polish and black eye-liner…." Neela's father just looked at her blankly. "Kajal," She clarified.

"Oh." He looked at Neela. "We're going to need some time to think about this. It doesn't mean we're okay with how things are right now. We just need to think this over."

"Okay," Neela responded, taking a deep breath.

"I think we should be going now," her mother stated, getting up. "We will keep in touch and meet with you again in a few days."

For the first time during their visit, her parents walked over and gave her a hug. "We've missed you," they whispered to her. "Really, missed you."

Neela swallowed. "Yeah, I've missed you, too, and the rest of the family. How's everyone doing?"

"They are doing well. Your younger siblings miss fighting with you. They spend all their time now fighting with each other," her father said with a smile.

Neela smiled back at them and walked them to the door. "Okay, call me when you want to get together. I'm working day shifts this week, so I'll be free in the evenings.

"We will," her mother responded, as they both walked out.

Neela shut the front door and banged her head against it for a good 10 minutes.

_What am I going to do? This is all Ray's fault; he's just going to have to play along, s_he thought to herself as she got her sneakers on and left to run off her anxiety.


	5. Chapter 5

**Author's Notes: **At long last here is the next part, I've been on holiday this last month and real life just got in the way. But I'm back now and ready go through another chapter! Please Read and Review:) Thanks!

**Chapter 5**

A couple of days later, Neela found herself standing in front of the mirror applying lipstick in the ladies room of the hospital. _Why did I agree to let them meet me here after my shift?_ She cursed herself for being unable to tell her parents to meet her at the restaurant.

Neela sighed and closed her eyes. She'd managed to avoid talking to Ray about what was discussed the day her parents had turned up unexpectedly at their door. She figured that she there would be no reason to even bring it up; she'd just be careful that her parents and Ray didn't bump into each other.

_No such luck today, _Neela mused grimly, walking out of the ladies room to see Ray standing at admit, ready to start his evening shift. Knowing her parents were due to arrive in about ten minutes, Neela began to think of ways to bring it up.

"_Hey Ray, my parents are coming by here to pick me up for dinner. Oh and by the way I told them you're gay, so I wouldn't have to move out. They are going to here any minute now, so go over and pinch Jerry's arse or something, please." _

_Oh yeah Neela, that will go over real well. _

_Maybe I should say…._

"_Ray, you know how you wanted to borrow my eye liner last week, want to try my lipstick too? In fact here let me put some on you….."_

_Bugger._

_What the bloody hell am I supposed to say?_

Just then the sliding doors breezed open and in walked Neela's mother and father looking around the entrance for their daughter.

_Shit!_ Neela placed a huge smile on her face and walked gingerly up to her parents. "Mum, Dad, you guys are early."

"We wanted to come in and see you at work," her mother replied smiling as she glanced around the busy ER. "Maybe meet some of your colleagues," she added looking hopeful.

"Uh, shouldn't we get going now, we have reservations for 8pm…" Neela started out but was interrupted by her father.

"Neela, is that your flat mate?" He asked pointing to Ray, who looked like he was dressed to go to a rock concert as opposed to spending the night taking care of patients.

"Yeah…," she responded trailing off. Thinking fast, Neela steered her parents away from where Ray was standing and walked over to Jerry. "Hey, Jerry, I don't think I've introduced you to my parents. Mum, Dad, this is Jerry, he holds the fort over here at Admit…..and gives tours of the hospital from time to time," she finished, smiling sweetly at him.

Jerry looked over at Neela and her parents and took notice of Neela's pleading expression. "Nice to meet you, Mr. and Mrs. Rasgotra, would you like me to give you a brief tour of the ER?"

Walking past Neela, he whispered, "ten – twelve minutes tops. And you owe me."

"Thanks, Jerry," she responded, pleased to see her parents walk away with Jerry, giving her some time to talk to Ray about his newly appointed sexual preference.

Taking a deep breath, Neela turned and fixed her gaze on her roommate, who was at this time trying to charm Chuny into doing something for him.

"Come on Chuny, I'm asking you to help me out here, I know I can count on you…."

"No, Ray, I have about fifty other things to finish…."

"Have I told you, how lovely you look this evening? No, really, have you done something to your hair?"

Enough was enough.

"Ray!" Neela called out, walking quickly towards him, "we need to talk. Now."

"Ok, what about?" Ray responded looking at her curiously. Neela had been avoiding him the last few days. That he knew for sure. As to why, well, that was just something he was going to ask her later. He figured the best thing to do at this point was to give her some space while her folks were in town.

Gesturing for Ray to follow her, Neela walked past him towards the doctor's lounge and glanced at her watch. _Okay, three minutes to go._

"Neela, what is going on?" Ray asked walking into the lounge. "Why the privacy, did something happen?"

"Yes. Something did happen and I need you to keep quiet, until I'm finished," Neela stated beginning to feel annoyed with him.

"I'm going to keep it simple. My parents don't approve of my sharing an apartment with a single bloke, and as much as I have tried to reason with them and tell them there is _nothing_ going on between us, they won't budge on this. They want me to move out…."

"What?" Ray interrupted, looking at her incredulously, "So you're just going to do what they say and…"

"Now," Neela cut him off, giving him a warning look, "I have told them I don't want to move out and I'm not going to."

"Well, that's good," Ray interrupted again looking relieved. "You can't let your parents control your lif-"

"I told them you're gay, so they won't kick up too much of a fuss," Neela finished, challenging him with a look.

"You told them _what_?" Ray responded staring at her, not quite believing what she had just said.

"That you have preference for men over women," Neela said slowly, beginning to make her way to the door. She didn't like the look in Ray's eyes. _His eyes turn a dark emerald green, when he's pissed-off. Who knew?_

Quickly making his way to the door, Ray locked it and settled himself right in front with his arms crossed over his chest, effectively blocking Neela's one exit from the lounge.

"You're not going anywhere."


	6. Chapter 6

**Author's Notes: **Hey everyone thanks for all the reviews :) Much appreciated, Im glad you guys like how its going, Im having fun writing it. I may take time to update, but I assure you, Im dedicated to completing it. Always feel free to let me know what you think!

**Chapter 6**

"_You're not going anywhere." _

Ray stared at her for a minute, trying to figure out why of all the things Neela could have said to her parents to convince them to let her stay at the apartment, she chose to say he was gay.

_It hurt. _More than he cared to really acknowledge.

The silent staring continued as Neela glanced at her watch, realizing that her time was almost up and Ray wasn't making any motions to talk or let her leave.

"Ray, I need to get going; my parents are probably done with their mini tour of the ER and we have reservations…."

"So, Neela, what was it? The tattoos, the nail polish, the piercings…." Ray asked harshly, the bitterness in his voice increasing with every word.

Before she could respond, he continued, "What was it about me that made you lie to your parents?"

"What?" Neela gaped. "This isn't personal, Ray. It's only because you're a guy; it has nothing to do with how you look!"

"Fine then," he retorted, eyes blazing, "why not tell them we're friends? That I'm not some stranger you met on the street, that - oh I don't know - maybe I'm someone you can trust."

Neela stared at him as the words hit back at her, reminding her of the very reason she had chosen to go with the lie. She _didn't_ trust him. Sure, she trusted him as a roommate, but following the events of the party, she wasn't so sure she could trust him with anything more. And she wasn't ready to try. That reality saddened her more than the anger she had been feeling towards Ray the last couple of days.

"I tried to, Ray, I really did, but my parents are pretty rigid on this." Neela wearily ran her fingers through her hair and took a deep breath. "Look, I know it's a lot of me to ask you to pretend around my folks that you're gay, so I'm not going to push it. If you want to that's great, if not, I'll start looking for a new place."

With this, Neela walked towards the door and waited for Ray to move to the side so she could get out, keeping her gaze to the ground the whole time.

Ray, taken aback by Neela's sudden change of attitude and the brief flash of sadness in her eyes, moved and let her pass.

Opening the door, Neela walked out just in time to hear "Mr. & Mrs. Rasgotra, so nice to meet you, I'm Dr. Archie Morris, Chief Resident of the ER……."

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Ray stood still for a moment, idly wondering what had just happened. How Neela could go from angry, determined...fierce, even, one minute - to resigned and defeated the next.

He was still angry; Neela wasn't being honest with him, and a lot of stuff just didn't add up with the way she'd been acting lately. But the reality was that if he wanted Neela to continue living with him, he would have to swallow some of his pride.

Taking a big breath, he turned towards the door and exited, formulating a plan.

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"Yep, the other residents, interns, med students, and nurses rely on me to steer them in the right direction. It's a tough job, but someone's got to do it…." Morris continued to relay to Neela's parents, all the while seemingly unaware that half the hospital staff standing near admit had stopped what they were doing to listen, barely disguising their looks of disgust and hysteria.

"Can you believe him?" Jane whispered to Neela as she approached admit, watching the performance with mild interest.

"Yes, I can. This is nothing, you should have seen him when Dr. Weaver was showing the hospital board around the ER; I actually went over to the Jumbomart with Abby to buy some popcorn," Neela replied out of the corner of her mouth.

"Well you gotta hand it to him, must take a lot of energy to ham it up on a daily basis the way he does,." Jane retorted, smirking as she headed off to aid with incoming trauma.

_Right_, Neela thought to herself, deciding on a way to cut Morris off before he got into the 'plans' he had for a better ER.

She made her way towards her parents, intending on reminding them that it was time to go, when a movement out of the corner of her eye caught her attention.

Ray had just exited the lounge and was taking a look around the ER. _Who can I pick? There's Jerry; he looks kind of busy on the phone. Morris? Nope. Gotta make it look believable. That leaves Pratt. _Who, he noted was doing some charting at the opposite end of admit, right in the line of sight of where Neela's parents were standing.

_Perfect._

With his target chosen, Ray did a mental run-through of what he could say to Pratt. His gaze settled on Neela as he thought it over, who - he realized - was watching him solemnly. Their eyes locked for a moment; the question clear in hers. Unwilling to let her in on what he was planning on doing, Ray simply looked down and walked steadily towards Pratt.

"Dr. Pratt," Ray called out loudly, walking towards the preoccupied resident.

Praying he could pull this off without getting punched, Ray casually placed an arm around Pratt's shoulder.

"Remember when you wondering about the commotion in Exam 2 the other day?" Ray asked, quickly glancing around to see whether he had the attention of Neela and her parents.

He did.

Pratt barely looked up from what he was writing. "Yeah, so?"

As if suddenly aware of Ray's arm, Pratt glanced at the hand on his shoulder and then back at Ray, giving him a look.

"Well, it involved our Chief Resident, Neela, and Billy "the Head-Butt" Allen," Ray continued, lowering his voice.

"You mean the 13 year old with aggression issues who's in here every other week for getting into fist fights?" Pratt asked, his interest piqued; the kid was a pain in the ass and extremely difficult to treat.

"Yep, that's the one. Only this week he came in with a broken nose and Lewis handed his chart over to Morris to work on," Ray went on bending his head slightly towards Pratt. Without even realizing it, Pratt moved his head closer to Ray's to hear the rest of the story.

Gazing fascinated at the display before her, Neela broke away from what appeared to be Pratt and Ray cuddling, to hear her father ask, "Is your flat-mate seeing that other doctor?"

"Uh…" Neela started off, not entirely sure what Ray was doing.

Just then, Pratt laughed as Ray started making motions with his arms.

"I think so. Maybe we should head out now, you guys ready to go?" Neela asked, slowly nudging them in the direction of the sliding doors.

"Aren't there policies for work place relationships here, Neela?" Her mother asked, unable to stop looking at apparent flirting between the two doctors.

"Not that I know of," Neela responded, smirking as she looked back at her roomie laughing with Pratt; a part of her was dying to know what exactly Ray was saying.

"So me and Malik walk by Exam 2 just in time to witness Billy practically sitting on Morris, beating the _crap_ out of him, screaming "Don't you dare touch my nose!" There's blood flying; Neela isn't sure what to do, so she tries pulling him off, meanwhile Morris is screaming incoherently," Ray continued trying to keep his voice down.

Trying to wipe the tears from his eyes, Pratt breathed in and asked, "Please don't tell me Neela went at him with a bedpan?"

"Nope, Malik and I stepped in just then to separate all three, and restored some semblance of order. We handed Morris over to one of the med students, and Billy was pretty worn out after the tussle, so he came with me and I fixed him up," Ray finished, grinning.

"I remember asking Morris about the bruise on his chin; he muttered something about falling down some stairs. What a liar," Pratt responded, looking smug. "That was a good story, Dr. Barnett. Now how about looking at some patients?"

"Yes sir," Ray replied with a mock salute and another grin, turning towards the board just in time to see Neela and her folks heading towards the exit. Neela turned to look at him once before walking out, the question still in her eyes.

His pointed look and half bow was all the answer she needed. Grinning to herself, Neela walked into the cool air with her parents, intent on enjoying the rest of her evening.


End file.
